Everybody Slips And Falls
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. Buffy gets a job taking care of Angel's grandmother in a time of need. He slowly starts to fall for her. Mature Themes. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Own Nothing...**

The light seemed far too bright and she didn't understand it, or what was going on, in her sleepy haze. Buffy blinked her eyes open a few more times then she rubbed her face.

She realized that she had left her watch on last night, about a second before realizing she had left everything on from last night when she found herself too tired to even go change for bed. Buffy let out a slight groan, then she lifted her wrist up so she could check the time and almost screamed at what she saw.

In a hurry, Buffy sat up on her bed and reached out quickly for her alarm clock, finding herself not all that surprised when she noticed it's blank face staring back at her. Next, she tried to flick on her bedside lamp but was even less surprised when nothing happened but a small clicking noise.

"Fuck," Buffy hissed, hurrying out of bed and out of her room, going straight across the hall to pound on her sister's door a few times before letting herself in.

"Jesus, Buffy," Dawn moaned, waking up herself. "Where's the fire?"

"It's almost noon, Dawn. You're late for school, get up. And hurry."

The one eye Dawn had opened squinted at her older sibling. "Oh, well, let me guess..."

"Yes, okay, I didn't pay the light bill. Sorry. I will get right on it, alright? Just please get up and get moving would you?" she asked, throwing some clothes on Dawn's bed before reaching around for some of her sister's school supplies.

Dawn slowly began to sit up. "Why even bother? The day's already half done."

This was so not the day for this.

"Fine, Dawn," Buffy said, throwing her hands up. "Don't go, just go right on black to sleep." Buffy turned away before her sister could see the tears beginning to build and she started for the door, closing it behind her. Buffy leaned back against the hard wood, trying to calm the hell down. "When they come to take you away at least we''ll know better than to be surprised," she said softly to herself.

But Dawn heard it as well, having crept her way over to the door. She felt guilty instantly.

Dawn heard Buffy's footsteps moving away and she slowly opened her door and headed for the bathroom to get help get herself ready to go.

OoOoO

At the sound of a loud thud and a string of curses, Dawn guessed Buffy just found out that the water was also turned off, something that she had figured out moments before herself.

Dawn finished getting dressed the best she could then went to the kitchen to grab some bottled water to brush her teeth with before grabbing all of her books and school supplies and going to find Buffy.

"Sorry about the water."

Dawn shrugged and look anywhere but at her.

Buffy stood for a moment then bowed her head. "Okay well.. let's get you go school."

OoOoO

"They're still going to take me aren't they?"

"I don't know, Dawnie. It's possible." She reached for a pen and hurried out a note. She knew she should go in there with her, but she dreaded what she knew would come from it. Dawn reached for the door but Buffy stopped her, her heart climbing into her throat. "I'm gonna sell the house Dawn. That's where I'm going now, to see what we can do..."

Dawn shot her a look then she shrugged away. "Do whatever you want," she told her angrily then hopped out of the car, stomping her way up to the school.

OoOoO

After that meeting, Buffy grabbed up a paper and sat in her car looking for jobs.

She didn't know how much time had passed but she'd made a few dozen phone calls, set up plenty of appointments so far and had made a hefty list of places to hit when she got the phone call from Willow. One she was surprised hadn't come sooner.

"Is there some reason we've skipped our classes today, missy?"

Buffy sighed. 'Come to think of it...' She tried to think of the best way to get everything out, apparently she was taking too long though.

"Buffy? Buffy?"

"Yeah, sorry Will. I just..." she sighed again.

"What happened?"

"Dawn was late for school because the power wasn't paid for, neither was the water and who knows what else. It's not like we have a million chances to screw up you know and it's like an every day fear that they're going to come and she'll be gone."

"Oh Buffy..." Willow cried out, hearing her friend's voice starting to close up on the other line.

But she kept trying to truck on. "And now she's even more pissed at me because I told her we've got to sell the house. You know that's the last thing I want but we just cannot afford it. I signed all the paperwork and got it set up today, now we just got to pack, find a new place and wait for someone to be interested. And I still don't know how we're going to make it. There will still be rent, food, gas, clothing, power, water, everything... and I just don't know what to do Will..."

"Buffy, it's going to be okay. We're going to get through this, you know we're all here to help you and Dawn with anything you need sweetie. It's going be fine, trust me."

There was a few minutes of silence and she could hear Buffy's battle between breaking down and trying to pull it all back together.

"What are you doing now?" she finally asked.

"Looking for a job."

"A job? Buffy, you don't have time for one... with Dawn and classes and..."

Buffy bit her lip. "I'll figure it out. Somehow. I'll probably have to drop out, at least for awhile, but it's gonna be okay. Just like you said."

Willow remained quite though there was so much she did want to say but finally she let out a sigh of her own and promised to call her later and maybe stop by as well, which was the only good news Buffy had heard all day. Then after the hung up she went to go see what she could do to help and see who else she could get involved as well while Buffy went back to searching.

OoOoO

Up until it was time to go get Dawn, Buffy went place to place turning in resume's and setting up interview times and just looking for anything she could. Dawn didn't speak to her the whole ride back, but when she walked in, she turned around and shot a glare Buffy's way. "Light's are still off."

She closed her eyes. "Yeah, sorry, I forgot. I'll call them right now."

"They won't be able to come out this late so what exactly do you suggest we do? I do have homework and will probably need to eat and... nevermind... I'm just going to go to Janice's okay?"

"I can..." Dawn bumped into her on her way back to the door and she sighed, "Want a ride?"

"No," Dawn said hotly then opened and slammed the door.

Buffy slunk down to the ground, pressing her back to the way behind her and her knees up to her chest. She pushed her hands into her hair and took a few deep breaths, wondering how in the world they were going to make it through this.

Buffy's eyes wandered around the empty room, stopping on one of her favorite pictures of the room. It was one of just the three of them, her, Dawn and their late mother Joyce. She slunk on the ground over to it, lifting it up off of the table and bringing it down to her, her mother's shinning face making the heartache almost too much to bear. "Why did you have to go?" she asked aloud, her voice hoarse.

She was here one day, gone the next. No warning, no nothing. Now here she was.. all alone. And everything was so messed up and out of control.

She'd been told more times than she could count that it was supposed to get better, but she believed that less and less with every passing day.

OoOoO

It was a few days later and Buffy had been on her way to another interview when she got a call from her friend Lily, begging her for a favor.

"Oh, come on Buffy. It's perfect. Good hours, nice pay, easy work. All you have to do is spend some time with a little old lady, a sweet and funny old lady at that. She already has a driver, a cook and a nurse who stops by every other day and is on call in case you need her. She's just lonely and that's where we come in. So you just spend time with her, make sure she takes her meds, and clean up a little around her house and such."

"I don't think I'm the right person for this, Lil."

"You're all I've got. I already told my boss all about you and Grace as well. They thought you sounded perfect. And really Buf, you're all I've got on such short notice. So please? Just go meet with her, be a temp for a day and I'll take over until we can find someone if need be."

Buffy sighed. She knew she need the money like yesterday and did want to help her friend out, she knew how much her clients meant to her and Buffy admired everything she did, she just never thought it was for her she supposed.

Buffy sighed again. "I'll at least check it out," she said tiredly into the phone and heard Lily's smile through her voice on the other end with her thank you's and promises. "Where do you want me to go?" she asked and spent the whole ride as she tried to find her way to the woman's house learning about her and the situation.

OoOoO

Buffy looked herself over in the windows to the large house then knocked on the door.

A minute later she was face to face with one Grace Callahan. "You must be Buffy."

"Yes ma'am," she returned the smile and stuck out her hand, "It's very nice to meet you, Missus Callahan."

"Oh, none of that child. You feel free to call me Grace," she said cheerfully as they shook hands then invited her to come on inside.

Grace led her through the house to the kitchen where she met the cook but, more importantly, the two sat down and spent a little time getting to know one another better.

Buffy was surprised how well she got along with the woman as well as her lack of interested it seemed with any of her qualifications, which was excellent for her seeing as she really had none. But Grace never asked about her work experience or schooling or anything like that, only personal but not _too _personal things to get to know her better.

And that was fine with her.

And Grace also never spoke anything about being sick or seemed it at all. Also something Buffy didn't mind.

Buffy finished her cup of coffee then they continued through the house, giving Buffy the grand tour of the place, leaving her mesmorized by it, something that Grace found herself laughing at more than once.

Buffy smiled. "What? It's just so... beautiful!"

"Well, thank you dear," she replied and gave some backstory to the house and its history with her family.

"Do you live here alone?" The house may have been beautiful and part of her family, but it seemed so awfully big and lonely to have it all to yourself Buffy thought.

"No, my grandson lives here as well, although he is quite a busy man and is hardly around. It's usually just me."

Buffy could see why she was interested in the program then. Even if some of the servadepaturents lived here as well, it still seemed lonely.

"His name is Angel O'Shea, my grandson that is," she reached for one of the pictures and handed it to Buffy, pointing him out, "that's him."

Buffy felt a little pitter-patter action going on with her heart as she stared at the picture but once she realized it shook it off. "Seems like a nice guy," she offered, "Can't wait to meet him."

"If you're lucky, you just might. But he's usually working so comes home later most days. Sometimes he is around on the weekends though. But he is nothing short of living up to his name," she said with a smile.

OoOoO

And that's how most of the day was spent.

Buffy got the tour of the house, excluding going up the attic, but was shown how to get up there and what was in it, and the area that was more Angel's, just shown where it was as well. She also got in some of the housework. She did a few loads of laundry and cleaned up a bit. But mostly, she just spent time talking and hanging out with Grace.

When it came time to leave, she was happy to have agreed and couldn't wait to see how this all played out.

For a while, she was able to forget about her every little problem and sort of dreaded having to go back out to face them.

But, there was always tomorrow.

At least she hoped.

OoOoO

Grace stood in the door, watching the young blonde fading away down the road and smiled before coming back inside and closing the door. She walked over to the phone and dialed up Lily's phone number to thank her for going out of her way with everything and for sending over her friend.

"So everything went okay then?"

'Had it ever.' Grace complimented the young girl she had met today many times over and thanked Lily and the agency even more times than that. Buffy was quite a breath of fresh air, just what she had been looking for. She wasn't one of the other girls, which she already knew from Lily earlier, but even if she hadn't it wasn't hard to tell. She had no problems with any of them, they just didn't quite fit the bill she wished they would have.

After her call with Lily, she checked the time then rang up Angel to tell him the news as well. She always kept him informed about everything, but she did kind of dread telling the news of the last girl's sudden departure. It wasn't her fault really, she had a family emergency come up out of nowhere, but she was still going to have to do some convincing that it worth it. And to her, it really was.

OoOoO

It had only been a few days before Angel had already become used to hearing all about this Buffy girl every night when he came home at night. He wondered if his grandmother actually loved this girl as much as she obviously seemed to, or if she was just trying to convince him of it. But, either way, he knew she wanted to keep her around.

And that was what had him on the phone for hours trying to explain that to the same people who'd sent her over in the first place.

Apparently, this Buffy girl wasn't exactly one of their employees and not exactly qualified to be one either, she was just a friend of one of the girls who did a favor, but to Grace that just didn't matter. It didn't matter much to him either seeing as the whole time he had his own doctor coming by just about every other day and was on call anyway.

It was nice to have a back up but it wasn't that important, at least not anymore.

To them though, it was another story. This Buffy was just there sort of like a temporary and now they'd found someone else to come in.

And that was now one big problem.

He had already tried talking to these people and even offering to double the pay but they kept trying to sell him for this new girl. It was quite irritating.

It had taken hours of his time, they kept ignoring him basically, he was doing this instead of working like he should have been... and best of all is he hadn't even met the girl he was fighting so hard for. It was pretty laughable, but he was on his grandmother's side and wanted to make her happy so... here he was.

Still.

He could tell though how nervous they were on over the phone and he wondered if he should have just gone over there instead. He knew this probably would have been a much shorter conversation if he had as he scared the holy bejesus out of most of them, which is why he rarely ever went in and was never around when their people were over. Now it seemed like a good idea.

Tired of the woman's voice going on and on on the other side of the line Angel finally growled. "Who's the friend?"

The woman audibly sucked in her breath for a moment. "Uh.. the one that..."

"Yes," he growled again.

"Lily. Uh, Lily Steele, sir."

"Can I talk to her please?"

"Um, sir?"

"Look, we're obviously not getting anywhere so since she's friends with this Buffy girl I'm guessing she has a phone number or address for her which I'm going to ask for and then go over your heads and ask her to continue coming over myself."

He heard the woman fretting about and finally he heard a door open and a few random other noises before the familiar voice of Jenny Calendar. And after going through all of this again, they finally settled on a new agreement.

'Why couldn't they have just gotten her in the first place?' he asked himself angrily as he looked at the clock, noticing how much time he'd wasted with the other two before.

Sighing, he picked the phone back up and dialed home, hoping bringing Grace some joy would make it seem worth it before he went back to his day.

OoOoO

"Looks like you really made an impression."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, fumbling with the paper in her hands as she scanned for any ads she might have missed.

"You, my friend, have been hired to be the permanant replacement for one lovely Grace Callahan. And that grandson of hers is even doubling your pay for it."

Buffy sat there shocked. "But.. I can't..."

"You can and you should. Jenny's already agreed and Grace loves you and you need the money."

"I'm no more qualified to do this job then I was the day you asked me to do it."

"Doesn't matter, at least not this time. She's your only client and she's already taken care of as before. She just liked you and didn't want to see you go."

Buffy sighed and thought about it for a moment.

"Well?"

"Can I sleep on it?"

"Sure, you wouldn't be going back until the first of next week anyway right? Jenny'll be here in the morning I believe, might be in over the weekend some more but you should think about it and let us know."

OoOoO

The next morning Buffy had made up her mind and called in to speak with Jenny about getting everything set up properly. She even went in for about an hour to do a little bit of almost training and to sign papers and things like that.

After she left she went back to job hunting.

She hoped it would help having one more permanent job with pretty regular hours to show for as she searched for a second and possibly even a third one to go along with it. The very generous offer to double her pay was great, but she knew it wasn't enough for them right now. But it would obviously help and that was something they were in serious need of.

It did worry her though. It was a lot of pressure in some ways, especially when she had no idea what she was doing really. Whatever she was doing right though she hoped she could keep up. This was a lifesaver and she was afraid to mess it up and be left nowhere all of sudden down the line.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't unusual for Angel to rarely, and more common to not at all, meet any of the girls Jenny had sent over to take care of his grandmother through the years. He'd been to the office a few times but he did his best to avoid that. He met with the first one or two with Grace, just trying to please her and to get a feel of what she'd talked him into, but he no longer did that either. And the most he could remember seeing any of them was with one of the earlier girls, one who had stayed about a year, and that was maybe a total of two or three times. If even that. So, of course it hadn't bothered him that he hadn't met Buffy even though she had now been working at his house for the past month and a half. And he would have been happy to have kept it that way.

Instead, however, he came home one night to find this strange blonde woman still in his house way past her working hours and fast asleep on the couch. Around her were piles of folded laundry and the basket was in the floor next to her feet. She had one of his shirts on her lap, half-folded like she'd just fallen asleep in the middle.

His eyes darted around the room, listening for any noises or anyone else around but nothing out of the ordinary came so he turned his attention back to the girl.

And it didn't take very long before his cold stare woke her up.

Buffy yawned then opened her eyes which widened in fear at the sight of the strange man. She swallowed hard then sat up in a hurry, "Mister O'Shea!" she recognized him after a moment. It was strange though, he looked so dangerous and frightening as he stood there, not at all like he did in the pictures she'd seen around the house.

"What are you doing?"

She nearly winced at the sound of his voice. "Look, this is a total mistake and I swear to you this has never happened before," she rushed out in a shaky voice and hurried to finish the rest of the clothes around her. "I know this is no excuse but I'm working three jobs, one I'm going to be fired from for not coming in tonight, I have a teenage sister to look after and I am in the middle of selling my mother's house and trying to move. None of that is your problem of course and I fully understand that but I haven't slept and I have no idea what happened," she choked out, tears threatening to spill, "and I will completely understand if you want to fire me as well. I really do. But I'm begging you not to. I need this so bad and you wouldn't understand but..." she swiped her hand across her forehead, "I'm sorry. I'm truly very sorry."

Buffy stood up on shaky legs and hurried to go put the clothing away where she'd been intructed to do so before. When she returned he was still standing there, dark and looming, and glaring at her, watching her every move, making this far more uncomfortable.

"I'm terribly sorry," she told him again. "You don't have to pay me for any of this, I'll tell Jenny I left at my usual time and I'll even pay you back for the day or the week even."

He remained still and silenced. She looked up at him, those eyes sending a chill down her spine.

Dropping her head quickly, she went to reach for her things and hurried to excuse herself. Before leaving, she stood in the doorway and looked back at him for a moment, his eyes meeting hers once more and she tried to hold his gaze for as long as she could. "Please tell Grace I'm sorry," she got out and then hurried away from him and the house she never expected to set foot in again.

Angel stared out the door until he heard a car start and his eyes slowly went to the window. He watched as her headlights came shining against the blinds and as they slowly dissappeared little by little as she left.

When he could no longer see any trace of her he looked back around the room, stopping at the couch where he'd discovered her.

His eyebrows creased together. That sure hadn't been what he was expecting at all.

He didn't know how long he remained standing there like a statue, playing those moments again in his head, but finally he pulled himself away, heading slowly up to his room, grabbing the shirt that had been in her lap on his way.

OoOoO

Buffy sped down on road trying to get to her third and newest job, one that she hoped she still had after that mess. She honestly didn't have a clue of what happened. She remembered being there and working on the clothes... but she must have just passed out or something.

That didn't exactly help.

And Angel... well, he was the reason why she spent the entire drive trying to calm her breathing and racing heart, stop her hands from shaking, and keep from crying.

There was also the whole worrying that she was without a doubt going to lose that job she never should have gotten in the first place but for some reason had some crazy stroke of luck that she had now completely screwed up.

"Damnit Summers!" she screamed into the otherwise empty car, wiping away the onflowing tears from her tired eyes.

OoOoO

Not wanting Grace to rip him a new one, Angel set out to fix the situation with Buffy the next morning. All without his grandmother's knowing, if he could.

He did have a few question he wished to ask her but wasn't sure how to go about doing that without spilling too much, not knowing how much Grace might or might not know.

Sighing, he finished an e-mail and then dug through the papers he'd grabbed before coming into work, digging through them, hoping he'd grabbed one with Buffy's information on it.

Thankfully, he had and he picked up his phone after checking the door to make sure no one was around, and then dialed.

No answer.

Angel listened the to message to her voicemail but did not leave a message. Instead, he looked back down at the paper and decided to try one of the other contact numbers she'd given.

The second number had a disconnected message and then the third had an unhappy groaning voice come over it.

"Uh, hello? Can I please speak to Elizabeth Summers?"

Another groan. "What time is it?" the girl's voice came back, sounding half-asleep, which she was. Before he could answer, she'd found out herself and let out a string of curses. "Ah, I'm almost late for school!" He heard her moving around.

"Um..."

"Huh? Buffy's not here, this isn't her phone. I'm her sister, Dawn. If you're another bill collector... I don't know how you got my number but seriously, I can't help you. You'll have to call and talk to her."

"Uh, no. I'm Angel O'Shea, Miss Summers works for me... sort of.. she..."

"Whatever. She's not here and I really have to hurry up and get ready for school."

"Do you know when she might be in?"

Dawn sighed in annoyance. "She's working three jobs, that I know of, and is looking for more. I don't ever see her and I honestly I don't know her schedule. She's gone all morning, all afternoon and evening and into the late night. Some days she's here to drive me to school or pick me up, other days I have a friend. Today is one of those days I'll assume. If you want her cell phone I can give you the number."

"No, I have it," he told her with a sigh of his own. "I'll just try her again later."

"Good luck then."

"Yeah, thanks," he muttered and ended the call. He picked the phone back up, ready to retry the cell phone but his boss knocked on the door, distracting him.

'Later.'

OoOoO

After a too-long-for-his-liking meeting, Angel slipped away and back to his office, trying Buffy's cell phone again. It rang and rang and he was pretty sure the voicemail message was going to kick on at any second but then he heard her voice come on, her voice resembling her sister's from earlier, completely exhausted. "Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Summers?"

She tried to bite back a yawn. "Yes?"

"Hi, uh, this is Angel O'Shea..."

He heard her suck in her breath and then came a sound like she just hit herself in the forehead. "Jesus Christ! Mister O'Shea! I am _so_ sorry, I meant to call Jenny earlier but it was late and then too early and I felt like I needed to explain and didn't think saying everything over an answering machine was such a good idea and then.. ugh, sorry. Excuses, right. Just... sorry. Really, very. I'll call her right now and explain everything and..."

There was an awkward smile on Angel's face as he listened to her nervous babbling, one he hadn't even recognized he was wearing. Finally shaking his head he knew he had to interrupt her. "Can I say something please?"

He could almost feel Buffy squeezing her eyes shut and wanting to smack herself again. "Sure, sorry. Go ahead. I just sort of... do this... when I'm nervous. Sorry. Please, say whatever you need to." She swallowed hard.

Angel took a deep breath and started to try and explain that _no,_ he hadn't fired her and he hoped she'd come back to work as planned.

"Seriously?" she asked disbelieving.

"Yes, seriously," he replied in a flat voice.

"But I... I... seriously? Oh God, thank you so much... You have no idea..."

She apparently rambled a lot when happy too he concluded.

Angel listened to her thank him over and over, a fake, forced smile on his face even though she was who knew how many miles away. Which was probably for the best. He knew the smile probably looked more angry than anything else. Angel rubbed his eyes and leaned back into the chair, cutting her off to explain how Grace nor anyone else knew about it and he'd like to keep it that way. Happy to please, she agreed. And agreed. And than went back into thanking him and apologizing.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her a few things, such as why in the world was she having to basically work herself to death even though he was paying her double already, why she was taking care of her teenage sister by herself... things like that, but he just brushed it off, telling himself it wasn't any of his business and that he shouldn't even care.

Looking down at his watch he cut her off again, explaining how he needed to go and get back to work. It took about five more minutes to actually get the conversation to end but finally it had. He sighed and set the phone back down, shaking his head again. Trying to forget about her, he dove back into his work.

OoOoO

Grace told him all about her day with Buffy when he got home that night and it seemed that everything was back in place.

He did find a note from Buffy slid under his door though, thanking him again. He smiled down at it as he read it over for the third time, drawn to it for some reason. He meant to just look it over, crumple it up and throw it away however that didn't happen. Instead he shuffled through some desk drawers and hid it away in there.

Shrugging it off, he headed to go take a shower before bed.


	3. Chapter 3

_Drown Your Fears In Alcohol  
Everybody Spills And Falls  
Choke On Every Dream You Ever Had  
Drown Your Fears In Alcohol  
__**Everybody Slips And Falls**__  
Choke On Every Dream You Ever Had_

A few months passed by without any more incidents, both were thankful for that. Neither were ready for another run in with each other, the last one had left enough damage.

Grace on the other hand wanted nothing more.

She honestly did enjoy having someone to spend her time with. Angel was busy a lot, she couldn't blame him, he was much like his father and grandfather before him. And he honestly seemed to enjoy the work... most of the time, even if it meant putting in all those hours, but it was easy to get lonely that way. So it was nice to have someone around.

But she also had a second motive to it all, one she didn't start out with but it just sort of happened.

Every time she would meet one of Jenny's girls it was like she couldn't help herself but to try and judge her against her Angel. She didn't think 'the one' was exactly narrowed down to the girls working in Jenny's office, but it sure didn't hurt to try. And she often found herself gravitating to those who she could maybe picture with her grandson more than those she couldn't.

It was a bad habit but she had no intention in breaking this one.

Unfortunately, for so long she'd had the wrong idea in her head about who might be right for him. But, fortunately, she had figured this out in time before meeting one Buffy Summers. One Buffy Summers who she immediately thought was perfect, in more ways than one.

She was completely opposite from him instead of those she'd once been drawn to who seemed to mirror him a bit better. And that had seemed like such a more perfect match.

Grace could see him with a more Califorina-type girl, one beautiful, tan, high class girl who was only out for his money. She could imagine him dealing with it just because of one reason or another he ended up in that situation. Growing too tired to even care. And she could see how unhappy he would be.

Then there was the mirroring girls. Ones who were very job oriented like himself, serious and maybe even a little surly. That's where a lot of these girls had worked fine in. They were nice and all, for the most part, but they were around to do their job and were focused on that. They came, they went. And that's sort of how she'd see a relationship going. It just happening with no one really paying attention or caring. It would seem like more of a fitting then anything else, like they just meshed well enough so decided to give it a go. And that wasn't really living. She could see the stiff lifestyle in her head. The boring dates, deciding to settle just because, a horrible and depressing wedding, having the 2.5 kids because that's the only thing left to do... just dealing with life that way. No love, no happiness, just dealing. That seemed to be how so many couples were in this day and age but didn't want it happening to him as well.

So, once really thinking everything over, her mind changed to the complete opposite. If the perfect girl for her grandson was to mirror him, it had to be in a funhouse mirror only. And Buffy was pretty damn perfect when it came to that.

Instead of knowing what she was there for, knowing how to do everything, having a set schedule, Buffy hadn't had a clue. And she still didn't. She just sort of went with the flow of things as they came. For awhile she'd stuck to a schedule but constantly forgot one thing or another so forgot it, which actually seemed to help. Everything she was there to do got done.. one way or the other.

She worked hard, even though there wasn't much to work hard at, but she did her job. And she was the only one who honestly enjoyed it. And all the while she was so focused on doing a good job, she still was carefree and made everything fun. She didn't get caught up in it, in much of anything. She didn't rush through anything, usually, and just sort of let things ride out on their own pace. And it always worked out in the end.

Grace liked that.

She knew there was a job to do but she didn't get so wrapped up in it. She knew how to separate it, which was something she wished Angel knew how to do a little more of.

Again, she was proud of him and was beyond happy for him but there still needed to be something more in his life. He needed time to relax, to have a little fun again. The fact there was nothing else going on, besides her, is what set this whole thing off in the first place. He didn't have any friends outside of work, he had no hobbies anymore, and he obviously didn't have time to date. Someone needed to change things around, even if just a little.

She was pretty sure that if things worked out between him and her new favorite blonde, they would.

Buffy was smart and seemed to want to learn about absolutely everything. She would read anything and everything in sight and listen carefully to anything she was told. Grace often found herself telling her stories of her past or just discussing something from the paper or just anything at all. She could talk to the young girl on any topic whether that be gardening, which Buffy was becoming more fond of every day, or the news, the weather, food... whatever came to mind. She listened, put her input, asked questions and learned no matter what it was.

Angel was also a very bright young man. He just tended to stick with certain topics, learning as much as he could on things he'd need to know.

It was all just a different approach.

Buffy laughed a lot. Angel was almost always oh-so serious. He was also unnervingly calm all the time. Buffy tended to get babbling and jumpy.

Grace hated those times, though. When she got nervous and jumpy. Thankfully there hadn't been many but she'd still seen that side of her.

Once, Buffy had accidentally knocked over a lamp and it was treated like the end of the world. Her whole demeaner changed and it was almost scary to see such a change in the girl. The poor girl had been sitting in the floor when she walked in, tears streaming down her face, her body shaking with sobs. She had pieces to the lamp strung about around her, trying to fix it in this horrible shape and it wasn't working at all. Her hands were too unsteady and she'd obviously cut herself more than once while working on it.

Grace was so worried about her and it hadn't helped any when she kept apologizing and crying harder. And it only got worse from there.

Luckily, it was a rare occurrence.

She did apologize for the littlest things over and over again though. Even if it was some small thing like forgetting to buy milk at the grocery store. She beat herself up too much. So, Angel could do little things to improve her too she concluded. And that just made it seem even better in her mind.

And the more time that went by, the more little things she picked up on.

Her mind was made up. She just had to work on the other two's.

That was the hard part.

OoOoO

Angel knew he was a stubborn man. And he knew he was a workaholic. All of the worst kind. But he also knew that he was functioning well enough not to have been sent home all because of some damn flu.

Sure, he felt like shit but he wasn't letting that slow him down if he could help it.

No one seemed to care though and just sent him home early last night, giving him a few extra days off as well to rest and get better. He, of course, was not a happy camper. In any way, shape or form.

Grace took his temperature and listened to him gripe and grumble about, rolling her eyes at him. She thought about giving him a little piece of her mind or at least some advice but decided against it. Instead, she just let him go on and on as she tried to make sure nothing was really wrong.

She offered to call her nurse or get a doctor to come by but, no surprise, he just rejected the idea and so, for the time being, at least, she dropped it.

She was just finishing telling him to just humor them all and take the next few days to rest instead of his idea of working himself to death anyway from home when the doorbell rang.

Angel narrowed his eyes. "Who the hell could that be?" he said out loud, more to himself though.

Grace bit back a smile. "Oh my, I do believe I forgot to call Buffy earlier."

Angel had told her to, that Miss Summers wouldn't be necessary and something or other about not wanting to get the girl she obviously adored so much sick. And she falsely agreed and told him she'd call right away and tell the girl to take a few days off herself.

Of course that was never in any of her plans. In fact, she thought it was just perfect. The two of them were acting like the other was the plague or something. She didn't understand it. She was pretty fed up with it too.

Grace shrugged and started for the door.

Angel suddenly felt more sick than he had before the little announcement. Everything just kept getting worse and worse for him it seemed.

In only a few short moments he heard the two women talking and then coming closer until they were both in the room with him. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the pounding of his head and the sickness churning inside of him he couldn't explain.

"Buffy, I would like you to meet someone," Grace started, slowly grabbing the girls hand and pulling her closer to the couch Angel was on, "This is my grandson, Angel, who I have told you about. He isn't feeling so well," she gave a soft smile. "And Angel, this would be Buffy Summers. Who I have also told you so much about."

Angel slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his grandmother first, seeing something strange going on her eyes and a weird smile wanting to break out on her face, then he looked toward the blonde. He swallowed as his eyes landed on her. She was turning ghostly pale, her eyes were wide and nerves were just coming off of her in waves. He also noticed she'd changed her hair, looked completely exhausted, tired and.. hurt.. hidden inside, and she had lost a lot of weight since last seeing her. She'd obviously changed a lot since then and most of it didn't seem for the better.

Closing his eyes again, he sat up with a bit of a moan and reached his hand out. "Uh, hi. Nice to meet you?"

Buffy gave him a nervous smile and took his hand. He found it freezing. And shaking. "Hi. Nice to meet you, too. Grace has told me some wonderful things about you," she said, dropping his hand.

"I'm sure it's all lies," he said with a half smile then broke out into a sneeze then a small coughing fit. "Excuse me."

Buffy looked at him, her eyes worried. "Are you okay? Do you want me to call someone?"

"No, no, I'm fine," he broke in.

Grace sighed. "Trust me darlin', I've been trying that since last night."

Buffy stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Do you need anything?" she finally asked. "Some soup or something?"

Angel coughed again. "Sorry, no, I'll be fine."

Buffy nodded then looked over to Grace. "Okay, well if you need anything... I'll, uh, be... around."

Grace took her arm again and the two of them left him be. For now.

OoOoO

Leaving Grace outside in the garden, Buffy quietly re-entered the house. She cleaned a few of the rooms then walked back to the living area where she last saw Angel.

She found him still there on the couch, only now he was laying down, a blanket thrown over him and a bunch of books, papers and files and things around him. Taking a deep breath, she slowly walked into the room.

"Feeling better?" she asked nervously.

Angel slowly lifted his head up, tilting it toward her. "No, not really. In fact, feeling worse," he told her truthfully.

Buffy gave all the stuff around him a glance. "Not big on resting huh?"

"No. Could say the same for you," he said, his eyes slowly looking her over again.

Buffy knew if she looked like her old self she would have felt flattered such a man was looking at her. Today though, she'd only blush out of complete embarrassment. "If I could, I would," she said, cheerfully as she could. She was glad this was going better than the last conversation. At least in her mind it was. "I don't really have that opportunity though."

Angel looked down at the book in his hands for a moment before looking back up at her. "I wondered about that," he told her. He didn't know why. It wasn't like him. He just blamed it on the fever and cold.

Buffy gave a tight smile and shook her head. "Nothing interesting to wonder about." Buffy paused for a moment. "You know, I do really appreciate you giving me another chance. I honestly didn't mean for..."

Angel held up his hand. "It's okay."

Buffy lowered her head. "I just... thank you," she began to shift nervously. "Well, um, anyway, I guess I should get back to work."

Angel had a fleeting moment of wanting to stop her but he squashed it and let her go about to whatever she had to do.

OoOoO

Angel knew that a large part of why he could not concentrate on anything was the illness... but... he also knew part of it was because of that blonde girl he didn't even know, too. He sighed, wiped his forehead, sneezed and then groaned in pain as she set the book to the side and rolled on the couch some.

"Are you okay?" he heard the said blonde girl's voice out of nowhere. Soon she was leaning over the back of the couch, looking down at him, worried.

"Fine."

"Do you need anything?" she asked, biting her lip.

Angel suddenly felt drawn to it. Again he told himself he was probably just delerious or something. "I'm fine."

"Oh... okay." And she was about to walk away but suddenly found her hand reaching out to him, pressing against his damp forehead. She jerked her hand away a moment later and went to go find something to take his temperature with.

He was on fire.

They both thought it, each for different reasons.

OoOoO

Grace watched through the window, barely catching any of it. But the good part, that she saw.

She watched as Buffy reached down to her grandson and watched her face, more importantly though, she watched his. She watched his eyes close and he seemed to lean up to her as if seeking more. She watched Buffy jerk away and watch as he noticed she was gone. A thousand things went flying across that boys face.

She smiled. At least it was a start.


	4. Chapter 4

"Here, I brought you some soup," Buffy said rather cheerfully on her next visit when she and Grace came into the living room.

Angel was laid out on the couch once again, looking a little like death. She shook a container at him for a moment then sat it down on the coffee table before reaching into her bag for another one.

"And some hot chocolate," she shook it at him next then sang, "With marshmallows."

And when she smiled at him, Angel couldn't help but genuinely smile back. "Uh, thanks."

"You're welcome," she said with another smile. "If you need anything else just let me know," she told him then turned back to look at Grace, shooting her a smile as well, "Well, I guess I better get to work."

As she walked into the other room, Angel looked at the two items he'd been brought then up at his grandmother. "She's kinda cute when she's not acting all nervous and shy huh?" he half-joked.

Grace jumped a little then gave him an odd, surprised look. She said nothing though, only patted his shoulder as she walked by.

She had sort of already figured he thought Buffy was 'kinda' cute already when the young woman seemed to be all he could talk about since the last visit and how he hadn't requested that she be given a call to let her know she didn't need to come in today. There was also all those looks he kept giving her whenever he thought no one was looking. But it was another thing to hear him say something like that, too.

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard for her plan to work after all.

OoOoO

"So Grace tells me that you'll be back to work again in a few days," Buffy said as she came into the room. Trying to clean up in here in utter silence hadn't gone well, at all, last time so she was doing her best to make everything go a little smoother and feel more comfortable. "Not that you've technically left or anything," she joked, her head nodding at the large clutter around him yet again.

Before she'd even opened her mouth, Angel had known she was sharing the room with her, which sent his heart beat just a notch faster. Glancing up, his eyes met hers and he smiled sheepishly, almost ashamed even. For some reason which he couldn't explain he didn't want this one girl to see him as this crazed workaholic, to think he didn't have some sort of life.

Which, he didn't, but suddenly he wished he did or could even pretend to have one. For once, he didn't want the message to be read loud and clear that he was already married to his job and had no time for any other sort of relationship.

At some point throughout this day that thought had struck him like a lightning bolt and he was still trying hard to deal with it.

"Big project," he told her.

Buffy looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a smile. "Uh huh, bet you say that a lot," she teased. "Well I'm just going to tidy up in here real quick, don't let me bother you."

Angel nodded then looked back down at the mess of pages in his hand, on his lap, scattered over the couch, table... everywhere, not being able to comprehend a single word of it. After awhile, he just gave up, instead letting his focus drift to the young woman currently sharing his space.

Once again he found himself in awe of her beauty, and of how hard life must currently be on her. But even despite the look of needing a helping of some food and rest, he found her absolutely breathtaking.

"You know this place is pretty much spotless right?" he asked.

Buffy jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, her hands grabbing on to the sides of the display cabinet she had been wiping down. When she felt as calm as she was going to possibly get, Buffy looked over her shoulder at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes."

His eyebrow raised. "So why do keep insisting on cleaning it?"

Buffy sighed and looked away. "Well, I should at least be doing something."

Angel went to speak but ended up coughing a few more times than he'd like at this point.

Buffy had looked over at him again with a worried expression on her face, even started turning to take a step toward him but he waved her off, apologizing for the interruption then repeating how fine he wanted her and everyone else to believe he was.

"Why? Because of me? Because of that day I came home to find you over here..."

Buffy shook her head. "No, well yes, but no," she laughed at own confusion. "I just... you all have been so generous from letting me try out this job in the first place, to letting me keep it even without any experience or qualifications, letting me stay after that night, which, by the way, I apologize for again, to paying me extra, double even and everything else. It just wouldn't be right."

"Come here."

"Excuse me?"

"Please?" he asked, his tone softer.

Buffy hesitated and he had just begun to let himself grow worried before she set everything down and walked slowly over to him, her eyes cast downward and her hands fidgeting the whole walk.

Angel quickly reached over and pushed all his loose paperwork into a messy pile then threw it into a chair over to the side. "Take a seat," he told her, patting the other end of the couch.

Buffy continued to look nervous as she did as instructed.

He reached out and grabbed the remote and turned on the first movie station he could find. "I think we could both use a little lesson in learning how to relax huh?"

Buffy looked at him, then the television, then back to her lap. "I... I don't think I can do this."

"Why not? Do you have something against... well whatever the hell this movie is called?" he asked with a smirk.

"No," she replied quietly. "I just... I think if I sit here too long I'll probably end up breaking that promise and falling asleep again."

Angel felt his heart squeeze and looked sadly over at the girl for a long moment.

Next, Angel reached behind the couch to where he had set up a stash of clean blankets and pillows and grabbed her one of each. "Here," he whispered, putting the pillow behind her and laying the blanket across her petite form. When he noticed the girl shaking, he leaned back and tilted her chin up to look at him. He felt another twinge in his chest as he met her eyes, tears glistening, ready to fall.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She blushed in embarrassment and anger and wiped her eyes. "I'm such a mess, you probably think I'm some crazy woman."

Angel chuckled softly and shook his head. "I think... right now I think you should just relax, okay?"

They held each other's gaze for several beats before Buffy finally gave in. She smiled just slightly then nodded, letting herself fall back against the pillow and cuddling her body up on the couch.

Angel smiled, turning the movie on, resisting the urge to touch the young woman beside him and whisper promises to make everything in her life better.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy hurried to wipe the tears from her eyes before reaching for the door to her small apartment. She had no idea what she was going to do.

Dawn had been sent home with the flu the other day, from her currently disease ridden school and not from Angel, something she had to assure him and Grace of many times over when she'd call to let them yesterday afternoon to let them know she wouldn't be coming in for her next appointment which was today, at least.

It was Angel's last day home before he was set to return to work so that sort of bummed her out but also made her feel relieved. The last time she'd seen him was when she'd woken up on the sofa, completely embarrassed, and then had to rush to get her things together once she saw what time it was.

She'd been so worried since, too. She hadn't had time to finish her work, then wasn't expected to be in for a few days, and now she was missing today if not more.

And she just could not afford to lose this job. She couldn't before but right now more than ever.

She had been able to go to one of her throwaway jobs, one that she'd recently taken up, which consisted of roughly an hour and a half tops early in the morning.

She made sure Dawn was well taken cared of and asleep before sneaking off to at least manage to that done. But it wasn't enough.

She'd already been fired from one of her waitressing gigs and was beyond worried about the state of the rest of them as she was having to take off all of this time. And even if she wasn't to lose them, she was losing the money right now. Which they desperately needed.

She was working herself to death but they seemed to just keep falling into an endless hole. There were so just so many bills and debts to pay she couldn't think straight.

Looking down at the bag from the drugstore Buffy thought she might throw up. She hadn't been able to get two of the prescriptions filled for Dawnie on this trip thanks to their lack of funds. She felt so useless, already trying to wrap her head around what she could in order to get them as soon as possible. She may not have been taking very good care of herself but she made damn sure Dawn was.

The apartment they'd come to call home wasn't much, was a bit more expensive though than Buffy had planned but Dawn threw a fit.

This was the lowest she would sink to and Buffy gave up trying to argue with her before it really even started. After all, it was her fault they no longer had their home, their childhood house, as she couldn't manage everything she'd been left behind to take care of.

She made sure Dawn got all of the school supplies she needed, new clothes and shoes, the works. She'd had to sale a lot of their belongings but Dawn got what she'd needed. She herself was practically starving, eating only every few days, when she was close to passing out. And making sure it was something small and just enough to tide her over. But she made sure Dawn was taken care of and never went hungry.

Yes, sometimes she fell behind with some of their bills... sometimes the electric or water bills wasn't taken care of on time, but she was just trying her best.

Putting on a forced happy face, Buffy put her key in the lock and pushed the door open, gasping at what she saw. Her eyes were wide as she looked from Dawn to Grace then to Angel.

"Wh...what are you guys doing here?" she asked, never having been more embarrassed in her life than she was right now witnessing Grace Callahan and Angel O'Neal in her dingy apartment.

"Soup," Angel said with a smile on his face, pointing to the bowl Dawn was eating from. "And hot chocolate."

"Mmm, with mini marshmallows," Dawn added. "And both homemade, not out the box... and can... Sooo good!"

Buffy swallowed. "Th..thank you. You didn't have to do this."

Angel shrugged and let Grace do the talking, stating how they felt bad, wanted to make sure everyone was alright and so on.

"Oh. Oh... well thank you," she repeated. "You really didn't have to go to so much trouble."

"Nonsense," Grace smiled, waving her off.

Buffy returned it, though hers was still filled with nervousness and her extreme embarrassment. "Here you are," she said, walking closer to where her sister sat and handing her the bag. "I.. um... I'll have to go back and pick up a few of the others later."

Dawn rolled here eyes but didn't say anything, something Buffy couldn't have been more thankful for.

"Do... do you want something to drink or anything?" she asked the others. "I... I think we still have some hot chocolate packets left or there should be some soda or... water?"

Both Angel and Grace shook their head. "No, thank you though," they both replied as well.

Letting her eyes wander around the small space she was hardly ever actually in the presence of, Buffy suddenly felt a wave of panic. She hurried to put her purse down by one of the chairs and then excused herself as calmly as she could manage and disappeared off to the hallway.

OoOoO

Angel scrunched his eyebrows together as he watched her leave, well, actually it was something he felt himself doing since she'd entered the small apartment. Turning his head, he met his grandmother's gaze, getting a look from her. Sighing, he smiled down at the teenage brunette. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom real quick?"

Dawn went to answer, then sneezed, then sneezed again. "Geez, sorry. Sure, it's just down the hall. There's some really weird and totally ugly drawing on the door, I think in chalk or something, but whatever it is it won't come off," she babbled, "but anyway, you can't miss it."

Angel thanked her stood up, watching her flinch as he did. "Are you okay?"

She blushed. "Yeah, sorry. Just... you're all... tall and I half expect you to run into the ceiling or something."

He chuckled lightly before heading off to find Buffy.

OoOoO

"Hey," he said after lightly knocking on the open door to the bedroom she'd hidden herself up in. He sucked in a breath as she sat up from where she'd slumped on her make shift bed, looking positively mortified. "Are you alright?"

Buffy hurried to wipe away her newest tears and swallowed loudly. "Y...yes, I'm sorry."

Angel tilted his head then hesitated before entering the room. "For?"

Buffy threw her hands up. "I don't know. Everything. This place is a mess."

Angel's eyes drifted on their own accord. There wasn't enough stuff in order for there to be a mess.

And as if reading his mind, Buffy nodded. "I know, I know. Maybe not a mess... just... I don't know, a dump? An empty, ugly dump."

"Hey," he said gently, taking a few more steps toward her.

"Geez, I'm just doing a great job of this aren't I?" Buffy laughed miserably, her eyes casting down. "You shouldn't be here."

Angel stopped walking and clenched his jaw. "I.. I'm sorry. I just... I was worried and you were so..."

Buffy laughed again and shook her head. "No, no. I'm thankful for the idea... I just... you and Grace... you're both... and we're..."

Angel knew what she was trying to say, and didn't like it one bit. He continued walking, dropping to the ground before her. "It's just a place, Buffy."

She gave another miserable laugh his way. "It's just a dump, one I can't even afford. We don't have any nice furniture, hardly any at all. She balled her fists into her sleeping bag, I don't even have a bed!"

Angel listened as she unloaded, crying about this place, losing her home, losing her mother, work, and everything else. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her tiny little body into his lap and stroking her back until she was finished.

When Buffy finally realized what she'd done, she returned to her completely mortified state. She pulled back and tried to get off of her boss, tried to apologize, but he wouldn't let her do either.

"I want you and Dawn to come live with Grace and I."

"What?"

He repeated his earlier statement.

OoOoO

Buffy was a bundle of nerves as she watched her and Dawn's things being carried inside the large house that they were apparently going to be calling home for the time being.

It had taken a lot of convincing but Buffy finally gave into the idea. She really didn't see any other choice in the matter, both because she was completely drowning as it were and after Dawn got sick she more screwed than ever and also because neither Angel or Grace were giving her any other choice about it.

But that still didn't mean she was anywhere near comfortable with it and she was sure there would never come a day when that'd happen either.

Since they were moving in over the weekend, Dawn was home from school to help out... though she was clearly more interested in just standing in awe of the place.

Buffy had brought her by for the first time days before when she was still in the middle of what to do. Dawn's mind had long been made up on the subject but once she got a load of this place... Buffy knew she was doomed.

Buffy's hands went up to her throat. "Are you sure about this?" she asked Grace, not for the first or the last time.

Grace patted her shoulder. "Yes, and I know all the worries, the thank you's, the promises to be on your best behavior and be out of here as soon as you can and the whole lot of the rest by heart. You've been singing that tune enough so save it. Angel and I are more than happy to have you and Dawn staying with us. Now, let's see if there's any more boxes still to bring in and then we can get started on unpacking shall we?"

OoOoO

"So, how's it coming over there?"

Buffy sighed. "Angel, really, this is too much. You guys don't have to do this. Dawn and I... we can figure something out and..."

"Buffy, we're just trying to help. And we could use you around the house, you know that. Grace loves having you over and now she gets to see you all the time. It's good for her. We're both glad to have you. Now, how's the packing going?"

She sighed again, wiping at the tears brimming her eyes, which had been something happening every five minutes it seemed. "You know we truly appreciate this," she choked out.

"I know," he answered softly. "And I'm sorry I wasn't available to be there and help you guys out today. If there's still anything left by the time I get home though I'll be happy to help."

OoOoO

"You feeling alright?"

Angel turned his head and gave his boss a surprised look. "Huh? Yeah. Why?"

He laughed. "Nothing, it's just you seem pretty happy over there."

Angel looked down a bit, hiding the slight blush that came over his cheeks. "We just have someone moving in to the house today is all. The girl taking care of my grandma. And well, her sister too."

"How about that," Hank answered. "Sounds like you might be a little taken with her," his boss joked.

"She's a nice girl, just having some problems in her personal life is all. We're trying to help."

"Well that's very nice of you both. Hope everything works out."

"Me too."

OoOoO

Angel finally returned home late into the evening thanks to a last minute crisis. He'd been feeling nervous about coming back to find two young women now sharing his space but after the day he had he was now just really tired.

Opening the door, he peaked around not seeing anyone. He hung up his jacket and set his briefcase to the side before heading toward the kitchen to put away the bottle of champagne he'd decided to grab at the last minute in case anyone was up or just to save and celebrate with at another time.

Spotting some leftover cake, his stomach growled at he dug it out the of the fridge and placed in on the counter while fetching a fork and taking a few bites before putting it back.

After he was done, he quickly washed and put the fork back away as well then headed upstairs.

Angel was heading toward his room when he spotted some light coming from underneath the door to the room he knew Buffy was to be staying in. He stared at it for several moments before changing direction, going to knock lightly on the wood.

From behind the door, Angel could hear some clanking noises and couldn't help but smile at it.

"Just a second!" he heard her call out, moments before the door opened and her eyes went wide. "Oh. Angel. Hi! You're back."

Angel made some sqeaking noise at first, his eyes more than likely bulging out of his head he guessed. Buffy's swung the door open to reveal her tiny little body barely covered up by a lace camisole with some matching shorts that should have won a prize for their lack of size.

"Is something wrong?" Buffy asked after a moment of silence.

Angel blinked a few times and cleared his throat. "No, no, of course not. I just... I saw light coming from your door and thought you might be up... just wanted to check in with you is all."

Buffy smiled shyly. "Oh. Well, thank you. Everything's really great. I'm sure it'll be a little weird for everyone at first and everything but no, everything's great. Thank you so much again."

Angel bit back the need to say "Oh no, thank you," in regards to her choice in sleeping attire. Swallowing, Angel nodded. "I'm sure they'll be a period of adjusting but I'm glad you took us up on this and I hope you and Dawn enjoy your stay. But um... I should probably go shower and get to sleep. If there's anything you need..."

Buffy smiled again. "I'll let you know. Thank you again."

"Have a good night Buffy. See you in the morning."

OoOoO

As he stepped into the shower, the very cold shower he was being forced to take, Angel began to wonder just what he'd gotten himself into.

His dreams that night, all starring himself and a certain blonde he'd just moved in with him, didn't exactly help or clear anything up.


	6. Chapter 6

Grace smiled as she looked up to see her grandson entering the room.

He was home early, again, something that had come fairly regular over the past month, ever since Buffy and Dawn had moved into their home. And she had a pretty good idea on just why that was.

"Whatever it is, it smells good and I am starving," Angel announced with a smile.

Buffy turned around and gave him a shy grin as she greeted him, batting at his hand when he tried to scoop some icing off of Dawn's cupcakes, which were for tomorrow at school, not part of their meal.

"Cupcake nazi!" he called over his shoulder as he walked away, heading toward Grace. She smiled and returned his hug. "Anything I can do to help in here?"

Grace took a moment, just watching him. He'd twisted back around, now leaning against the counter, greeting their chef as he came in to join them in the kitchen as well but never taking his eyes off of a certain blonde sharing the room.

His eyes did not hide his appreciation one bit of the healthier look Buffy was sporting these days, now that she was finally eating and sleeping properly and such. It'd only been a few weeks but it had done her a world of good. Dawn too, but Buffy had been in much worse shape than her sister.

"I believe Dawn has already finished setting the table, but you can check and see I suppose. Or get everyone's drinks ready."

Angel's head snapped to the side, on delay. "Huh? Oh, right, helping. Sure."

"Mmhmm," Grace hummed with a smile, shaking her head as he forced himself to go about his task.

OoOoO

"Don't even think about it," Buffy called out, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. She heard Angel making some disappointed noise and she smiled to herself. A few moments later, she felt him come up beside her, apparently having slipped his button-up off sometimes between the end of their meal and now. He'd already lost his suit jacket and tie long before this.

At the sight, Buffy flushed and tried not to stare. Or drool. Or worse. Instead, she tried to keep her head forward, concentrated on washing their dishes from this evening, and her breathing and heartbeat regular.

"You know you don't have to do this," he told her, stepping into his place as her drying helper.

Buffy smiled, stealing a quick glance his way. "You know you don't have to."

He have her a half grin in reply, which was almost enough to cause her knees to buckle, but said no more.

The two worked in silence, for the first few minutes, before one began to question the other about their day and vice versa. Soon, it strayed off from there and fell into a comfortable teasing parade of fun and just general getting to know one another.

Neither of them were completely sure when this ritual had begun, but nights when he was home early enough, this had become part of their routine.

Buffy was trying to make herself useful, still highly uncomfortable with her insane increase in payment for her service, or what she thought of as lack of service, since agreeing to stay here. And work here, exclusively as part of their agreement. Well, maybe not exclusively, but not work herself to death maybe was more accurate.

Angel, on the other hand, was just hanging around to be with her. Somewhere along the road he'd found himself doing just about anything for the chance to spend time with her, be in her presence.

OoOoO

The next time Angel tried to sneak away in order to make it for dinner, he was in for a surprise.

"Alright, who is she?"

Angel's eyes went wide as he spun around. "Who?"

Hank laughed. "This girl stealing away my best employee."

Angel blushed slightly.

"Don't think I haven't noticed," Hank continued before Angel could gather himself back up. "So, who is she? That girl you've mentioned before, the one who moved in with you? Hmm?"

Angel continued to blush, and kicking himself for it. "I get my job done."

Hank waved him off. "I know that. Hell, you do the work of at least five of these guys on your worst day."

Angel knew that, too.

"It's nice to see you actually attempting some sort of normalcy, a life. You look happy," his boss commented with a smile.

He didn't know what to say exactly, was too busy being overwhelmed by his embarrassment.

"Well, you should get going then. Don't want to be late," Hank teased, taking Angel's jacket down from it's hanging spot and tossing it to the younger man.

Angel slipped it on and continued grabbing up his things, on his way out he slid into the room his boss had disappeared off to. "Buffy. Her name is Buffy," he told him quickly before ducking back out, missing the shocked look on the face of the very girls father.

OoOoO

Long after they'd eaten, cleaned up and all spent some time together, Buffy and Angel found themselves alone, unable to sleep, unable to walk away from one another just yet.

Deciding on a movie, the two headed out to the living room and took their spots on the comfy couch and settled in for the flick.

Neither of them could have begun to describe what had happened in it if their lives had depended on it.

Angel watched her, not the screen and Buffy pretended not to notice.

OoOoO

The last time Hank Summers had seen his daughter, well, _daughters_, was the night he'd left his wife. His first wife. Buffy and Dawn's mother. And that night was practically a lifetime ago now.

The first few years after his disappearance, he had tried, only not really. On their birthday's he would send money and some small gift and balloons, same thing on Christmas, maybe even an Easter or something he thought, but never anything more than that.

He never left a return address, never called, never came to visit or see them again.

Then, after he had become serious with his second wife, Maggie, who would later become his second ex-wife as well, he stopped everything completely.

He finally filed for divorce from Joyce, something neither of them had bothered with and he just walked away. Completely.

Then Joyce passed away. And Buffy tracked him down. Or, had someone track him down for her. A letter had arrived at his home, very business like, cold even. Not that he could blame them for it.

The letter spoke mostly of Joyce, what had happened to her, information about the service being held in her honor and where she would be laid to rest. The letter spoke briefly of Dawn, quick details into who his little girl had become, her likes and her interests. Buffy had even included several photos, of both Joyce and Dawn, though none of her.

The only time she seemed to say anything of her at all was at the bottom, saying she and Dawn were both doing fine given the circumstances. And that was it.

She never contacted him again and he never replied.

Hank hadn't gone to the memorial service or the funeral, though he had eventually gone to her gravesite to pay his respects. And to finally mourn his late wife, something he hadn't allowed himself to do, something he hadn't even let sink in until then.

After his emotional breakdown, he eventually stood up and headed back to his car. He hadn't even realized what he was doing until he was there, back in front of his old house, staring as a wave of memories long forgotten came crashing back to him.

He doubted he would have had the courage to walk up to it, to knock on the door, face his girls but it didn't matter, it wasn't an option. The place was no longer their home, something he found obvious, not having anything to do with the real estate 'sold' sign in the front lawn.

After that, Hank walked away. Once again.

And he never looked back, he left the past in the past.

Now this.

He sat in his office long after most everyone else had gone home and pulled out his secret stash of whiskey and poured himself a glass.

After a few, he let his wind wander, thinking back to his life before, to the choices he made, ones he could have made and memories he could have possibly had. He thought of his girls, pictured them from the moment he met them to the last time he saw them, then imagined what they must have looked like, been like after that, growing up.

He smiled, picturing them, together at different ages, moments in their lives. Then he thought of them today. Angel hadn't spoke much of them or their situation but he wasn't under the impression things were all puppies and rainbows for his girls. They'd obviously fallen on some hard times and he felt a pain in his chest when horrible images flashed before his eyes of what they could have possibly been through.

He had another glass.


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy smiled as she watched Angel twirl her sister around out on the dance floor. Dawn's whole face was shinning bright red as she laughed so hard she could be heard clear over to their table.

Buffy couldn't help but chuckle along with her, shaking her head as she took another sip of the delicious champagne they'd been treated to for this evening.

Apparently, at some point down the road these little celebrations for the four of them had become almost custom to do when something big enough happened. For the most part it was left up to Dawn, her improving grades and school achievements. A lot had changed in the younger Summers sibling since coming to live with Angel and Grace.

She still had her moments of course, she was still a bratty teenager and all, but there were certainly high marks on her record these days.

There had also been two in Buffy's honor, one marking an anniversary of her time so far with them and one for when she had paid off one of her larger debts, which took so much off of her shoulders that she had almost cried for a week.

Angel treated them out a few times for work, mostly though for the lack of work he'd find himself with which lead to the free time to do something. Then Grace... well, she could give any reason and they'd go with it. They were happy just to celebrate her most times.

Finishing her slice of cheesecake, something she had found herself dreaming about and craving far too often since they last time they'd come here, Buffy watched Dawn and Angel for another moment before leaning over to pat Grace on the hand saying she was heading to the little girls room.

Grace smiled and nodded, she was too watching their other halves cut a rug out there.

Grabbing her small purse, Buffy stood and headed for the restrooms.

After finishing her business, Buffy washed her hands then began flicking at her hair with her still damp fingertips. She twisted her mouth some then sighed, opening her bag and pulling out her small black comb to help out as she touched up her hair then began working on her make-up.

Once finished, she put everything away and stepped a few feet away from the mirror and studied her reflection. She had to admit she was much happier with what she found in the glass much more these days. She both felt and looked so much better than she had been for so long. She had a nice tan working for her again, color in her cheeks, some meat packed back on those bones of hers. It was nice to not look two seconds away from death.

Every day she felt more and more like her old self, hell even a new version of herself maybe. Either way, she was happy. She still worried about just about everything but she did her best to force it to shove off to the side from time to time, too.

Giving herself one last quick look, Buffy headed back out.

OoOoO

Angel and Dawn were standing by their table when Buffy returned. They were in the middle of their discussion, Dawn laughing loudly and fanning her flushed face before dramatically falling into her seat. Buffy greeted them all and had just set her purse down and was about to take her seat when her sister had the brilliant idea to suggest she and Angel try a round out there.

Buffy felt her eyes bulging right out of her skull, a red tint of her own wanting to come out and play. One hand came up to wave it off but then Grace jumped in as well.

She'd already felt dizzy enough by the time Angel caved first, gently placing his hand on the small of her back and waving out an arm before them.

"Shall we?" he asked as charming as could be.

She blushed harder. "Really, you guys, I am a terrible, terrible dancer."

Dawn laughed. "Well, that is true." Then the song changed. "But, just your luck, it's a slow one. So go. Shoo."

She looked back at Angel then did her best to at least attempt a nod having seen no other option or way out of this.

Angel smiled then helped lead her out onto the large floor. Picking a spot, he hesitated for a moment before pulling her closer and began to sway with her to the soft music coming from the band.

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, willing her heartbeat to slow as she knew he had to feel it if not hear the damn thing. She also did her best to will away any inappropriate thoughts out of her mind... thoughts such as how nice it felt to be in his arms, how warm his large body felt, how she wished those hands were on her more intimately... how unbelievable he smelled tonight... things like that.

She'd found herself having this annoying little crush on him out of the blue, or so she thought. Of course, she'd always thought of him as handsome and such but then one day it seemed he was all she could think about and she had all these annoying butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

It was not making life any easier.

Especially not right now, in this moment.

OoOoO

Three songs came and went before they'd even realized.

A loud bang of the drums and bustling movers and shakers around them finally snapped out of their heated embrace, both quickly putting a nice bridge of distance between one another and walking back to their seats with an awkward silence hanging in the air.

For about twenty more minutes the four of them remained at the table, finishing off their deserts but mostly just talking of this and that before calling it a night.

Upon arriving home, Dawn headed right off to her room, practically dead on her feet at this point. She mumbled of some goodnights, waved carelessly as she stumbled her way off.

Grace told them each goodnight as well then Buffy went to help her get into bed.

When finished, she headed back out to the kitchen to get a quick drink of water before heading off to her own room.

Buffy almost jumped out of her skin when she found Angel waiting for her by the door. Her hand flew to her breast and she stumbled back a step or two. "Angel," she breathed, "Hi. Did you need something? Is something wrong?"

He didn't answer, just stared at her for a long pause. She was already blushing again and fighting the intense urge to start fidgeting within seconds given the look in his eyes. Then, before she knew it, he crossed the few steps to her and once more his arms were wrapped around her, his body pushed hard against hers.

She'd barely had time to suck in a quick breath before she felt his lips fall down upon hers, full of hunger and need.

Buffy felt her arms moving all on their own accord, coming out to wrap around his neck, her hands diving into the chocolate mess of hair on his handsome little head. She moaned happily as she felt his fingers clawing into her which he in turn used as an opening to slide his tongue into her warmth.

Feeling evidence of his impressive arousal, Buffy shivered, her body instinctively rubbing against him, making them both let out low moans and she would have even swore she heard him growl.

Then, just like that, it was over.

Panting heavily, he pushed away from her, taking several steps back. When she looked at him she found both remains of their shared want but also an apology in his darkened orbs.

Quickly, he looked away, turned and stomped toward his room, leaving her utterly confused.

OoOoO

Angel felt like a drowning man gasping for air as he knocked on the door to Buffy's room.

He'd heard it softly close just moments before while he was still down the hall and around the corner on his way to her.

There was silence from the other side of the wooden door for a long pause before he heard her walk over and it opened.

Angel quickly let himself through the crack and into her room, his arms shooting out to grab her, pulling her back into his arms. She gasped as their bodies collided and moaned when he crushed his lips down upon hers.

Angel's hands rested on her hips before sliding around to her backside, reveling in the warmth from her tiny little body through the thin cloth. He whispered her name, his hands lowering further down, cupping her bottom and lifting her into the air.

Seconds later, her legs were wrapped around his waist.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered against her lips... somewhere between bouncing off the wall to the dresser to her bed.

Angel laid her down carefully, climbing on top of her, settling between her legs.

His lips never left her, drinking in the sweetness of her mouth, her body, her flawless skin. His hands roamed her thighs, her hips. They slid underneath her dress making them both suck in a hefty amount of air around them.

He had no idea what he was doing, he knew he shouldn't be doing it, but he couldn't stop himself. He had tried, he truly had. He'd rushed away, headed to his room, and lost himself. He'd paced the room, thrown various items at the wall. His eyes had been wild, his heartbeat erratic. His loins on fire. And he found he couldn't stay away.

The second he'd held her in her arms earlier in the night he'd known this would happen. Somehow, he'd known. Hell, he'd known sooner or later it would anyway for some time now.

Forcing himself to slow down, Angel's lips softened against hers, drawing the tasting out until she was whimpering under him. He pulled back and cupped her cheek with one hand. "I want you," he told her, his voice soft but the message read loud and clear.

Buffy shivered, nodded.

He kissed her again, taking his time. He peppered her face with love, ran his thumb down the center of her face, taking her in. He suckled her neck, discovered one spot in particular that seemed to drive her absolutely mad and used it to his advantage. He nibbled at her earlobes, collarbone. His palms teased down her body, cupping her breasts, sliding down her stomach, lifting the hem of her dress higher and higher. He buried his head in her cleavage, listened to her heart skip.

He took great care in undressing her, of exploring any and all skin as it was exposed. He couldn't seem to get enough.

As he teased her belly button, Buffy unhooked her own bra, casting it down to the floor to where her dress laid. Her hands cupped her breasts, teased her nipples, her eyes trained on him as he slowly made his way lower and lower.

Coming in contact with her simple black cotton panties, Angel groaned, wondering how much more of this he'd be able to take.

He touched her, teased her, explored her. He slipped the last remain clothing item off to the floor as well and wasted no time settling his face between her thighs to feast on her honey.

She came quickly, violently. Her hands had come down to rest on his head, guiding him, pushing him deeper and deeper into her depths. She all but bowed off the bed, shook so hard he thought the bed, if not the entire house, would collapse.

He lapped up all she had to give, and then some. She was still seeing stars when the second rolled through, ripping through her even harder than the first.

He undressed quickly, ripping at the cloth, tearing several garments in the process. Then he returned to her.

Angel remained still as Buffy gazed at him, her hands reaching out to him, running down his chest, stomach, down his arms. She had questions swarming in her eyes, even through the haze, and he knew he had the same ones in his. Neither had any answers right now. Neither of them needed them. Not right now.

Buffy's hands created a bracelet around his wrists as he slowly began to enter her, joining their bodies as one.

OoOoO

It was flimsy, but Hank Summers decided to use his best employee's odd absence as a reason to stop by and check on him.

Okay, so flimsy was even stretching it.

He truly did worry, and had waited, and had called. He hadn't gotten an answer at first then the next time he tried he believed he spoke with a maid who was confused as he. She explained she'd gone to his room to find it empty yet his car was in the drive, all of things in place. She mentioned something or other about knowing he'd come in the night before.

So, when noon hit, he decided to just drop by.

He didn't let himself think about it, about how dumb this was, how wrong it could go... he just up and started for the door.

OoOoO

The morning after was wonderful... until both Buffy and Angel realized the other wasn't actually asleep. Then things turned awkward and shy between them both.

Not having said much and did a great deal of avoiding looking at one another, they dressed themselves enough to hopefully sneak out of the room unnoticed to go off to their own business or whathaveyou.

Both knew and had to deal with the fact of starting the day so late, which was the least of their problems but was one they both seemed to be able to mention and deal with at the time.

Fate seemed to want to screw with them though.

OoOoO

Hank had been walking aimlessly around downstairs and happened to be in a good enough position to see them upstairs.

He'd heard whispering and movements so had peered up and almost dropped his glass of water in the process as he stared at the half naked couple.

Buffy heard Angel saying something but she couldn't make it out. Nor could she keep herself from feeling completely embarrassed as well as completely angry and saddened, couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open and her eyes trying to bulge right out of her skull.

"Dad?"


	8. Chapter 8

Grace yawned, walking down the hallway. Sleeping in this morning had felt wonderful, but it also made her feel like she wasn't accomplishing anything. One couldn't argue with staying in bed every once in awhile though.

Coming out into the living room, Grace spotted Hank and smiled his way. "Good morning, Hank. What brings you by?"

There was an awkward silence so she looked from him to where he was looking. "Um, Angel," she greeted. "Buffy," she said a little more brighter, still not understanding the mood in the room. "This is Hank Summers, Angel works with him."

The blonde's face scrunched up. "I am aware of who he is," Buffy replied.

"Oh?"

"Dad?" Angel asked. "He's your father?" Grace watched him ask Buffy.

The blonde sighed. "I'm running late as it is, I should get my day started."

"Oh, my," Grace muttered. This was something she really had not been expecting. She'd know Hank for about as long as Angel had and would have never guessed in a million years. Taking a breath, Grace looked up at the girl. "Buffy, dear, when you're ready why don't you come join me in the kitchen for brunch?" she asked. Se then turned her head back to Hank and asked him again what he was doing there and if there was anything she could get for him.

Hank gave a quick response about needing to go over some files with Angel, saying how sorry he was to have come over like this.

Grace waved him off. "Here," she said, "You take a seat right over here and I'll get you a cup of coffee, how does that sound."

He nodded, finally looking away from the couple above. "That would great, Grace. Thank you."

"No trouble," she told him with a smile. "Angel, why don't you go get changed and come take care of this in a few minutes."

OoOoO

Angel sat down, shaking his very confused head.

"I had no idea she..." he began then threw a hand up in the air. "Christ, Hank. I didn't even know you had a daughter, let alone two!"

Hank sighed. "We're not exactly close."

Angel sighed. "Christ," he repeated. "How long have you known?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You didn't come over here just for this."

This time, it was Hank who let out a burst of air. He sat back a little on the sofa. "Awhile," he answered. "You mentioned her name... and then some more information later and also with a little digging."

Angel shook his head. He could not believe this.

Last night had been amazing. Surprising, yet not. Buffy was everything he could have hoped for and more. And now this morning came and he had no idea what it meant, if it had meant anything. So he had enough on the plate with that whole situation.

And then come to find out she was Hank's daughter. That Hank even had a daughter to begin with. He'd truly had no clue at all on this whole thing. Summers was a popular name, he'd never given it a second thought. Hank had never given any indication whatsover to having children. And then anything Buffy had said about her other parents, which really hadn't been much, it was hard to put his boss' face to it.

And, well, there was the whole he just slept with his boss' daughter factor.

OoOoO

Buffy came down the stairs and paused. She swallowed as she looked at her father and her boss. This was just so unbelievable. She hard them talking about something work relate and decided to do her best with sneaking past and heading toward the kitchen.

She took a seat at the bar and then laid her head down on the granite.

Grace smiled, bringing her over a small plate of food. "Here you are honey."

Buffy peaked her eyes up.

"You'll feel better. And you can tell me all about it."

OoOoO

Hank was getting ready to leave when he heard his other daughter's voice.

"Dad?" Dawn called out. Her voice was dreamy, like she couldn't believe he was there. Which was something quite easy to understand. Then her voice became high-pitched and excited. "Dad! Oh, my God! You're here!"

Moments later, he found himself almost knocked back down as his youngest daughter flung herself into his arms.

He swallowed, unsure of what to do.

Moments after that, he found Buffy back in the room, a very angry expression on her face.

"Dawn!" she called out.

"Buffy! Oh, my God! Look! Dad's here," she said excited.

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "He isn't here for you, Dawn," she told her. "Hank is Angel's boss."

"What?"

Hank stepped away from Dawn a little. "Can we talk?"

"My boss works for you, I don't think that would be a good idea. I would hate to get him in any trouble," she replied. "Dawn, you need to go eat your breakfast."

"Buffy..."

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"Fine."

And together his girls walked out of the room.

OoOoO

Angel sighed, sitting down to eat. Buffy had gone off to do some work around the house, not listening to anyone telling her she really didn't need to. His grandmother sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee and Dawn sat eating her own meal.

"Buffy hates me," he heard Dawn say softly awhile later.

He turned his head around to look at her. "Why would you say that?"

Dawn sighed, putting her fork down. "I acted excited to see him."

Angel could heard her trying not to cry. "You hadn't seen him in a long time," he told her.

The corner of her lips twisted. "I know. And that's why. Mom and Buffy raised me, were there for me. He wasn't. It feels like a betrayal in some ways," she told him. "He didn't even come to her funeral. Buffy wrote him telling him about it. He didn't even come."

Angel swallowed. "I'm sure Buffy understands," he told her after a few more moments.

OoOoO

"Come inside," Angel said softly when he went hunting for the blonde,. They'd left her alone long enough.

"I have work to do."

"Not right now,alright? We don't have to talk about or deal with anything. Just come watch some movies with us and eat some junk food for the rest of the day."

It took a little more convincing, but she finally relented and walked back inside the house with him. His hand reached for hers, entangling fingers as they walked to the living room. Angel paid no mind to the others as they went, as he sat down, bringing Buffy with him. He didn't pay attention to the looks he was getting as he cuddled the small girl to him, held her, kissed her gently every-which-where.

OoOoO

Buffy helped Grace get to bed after having a long talk with the kind older woman. She felt better after it more than anything else that'd happen through the day of day.

Next, she went to talk with her sister, setting the record straight that it wasn't her so much she was mad at and explaining that situation. Dawn had a little less discretion when it came to questioning her on what in the world had happened and was going on with her and Angel. She didn't fully know what to say to that but she gave her a generic answer and told her little sister that such answer would just have to do for now.

And when Buffy looked for Angel, she couldn't find him anywhere. At least not until she went on to her room. She smiled shyly, walking deeper into the room.

Neither of them seemed to know to say.

They did talk for a short while, but then they just went to bed. Angel stayed, holding her through the night.

OoOoO

The next day went on by in this same weird spell at the house. But then the following week started and everyone was going back to their normal week.

Or so it seemed.

Dawn got ready for school, Angel for work. Grace had breakfast going with the cook and set everything up, with the help from Buffy as she got down there.

They all ate together, joking, Dawn gripping about a test she had coming up today. Then Angel told the younger Summers girl to get her things so he could get her to school. Which was something he'd become more accustom to.

And then before leaving, Angel bid everyone else a good day, but grabbed Buffy, pulling her closer and kissing her deeply.

When he finally let go, he nudged the mouth agaped Dawn and told her to come along.

He had a feeling he'd have a headache of a drive now though.

OoOoO

Buffy was blushing as she stared at the now-closed door. And it felt like forever before she dared to turn around.

Grace had a smile on her face that made Buffy blush all over again.


End file.
